Numbers 20–21

20^*Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, ^ainto the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and ^bMiriam died there, and was buried there. ^2cAnd there was no water for the congregation: ^dand they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. ³And the people ^echode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died ^fwhen our brethren died before the Lord! ⁴And ^gwhy have ye brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? ⁵And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink. ⁶And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and ^hthey fell upon their faces: and ⁱthe glory of the Lord appeared unto them. ⁷And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ^8kTake the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and ^lthou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink. ⁹And Moses took the rod ^mfrom before the Lord, as he commanded him. ¹⁰And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, ⁿHear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? ¹¹And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and ^othe water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. ¹²And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ^pye believed me not, to ^qsanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. ^13rThis is the water of ^||Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

^14sAnd Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto ^tthe king of Edom, Thus saith ^uthy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath ^†befallen us: ^15vHow our fathers went down into Egypt, ^wand we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; ^xand the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: ¹⁶And ^ywhen we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and ^zsent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: ^17aLet us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king’s high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders. ¹⁸And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword. ¹⁹And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by ^bthe high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, ^cthen I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet. ²⁰And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. ²¹Thus Edom ^drefused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel ^eturned away from him.

²²And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from ^fKadesh, and came unto ^gmount Hor. ²³And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, ²⁴Aaron shall be ^hgathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ⁱye rebelled against my ^†word at the water of Meribah. ²⁵Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: ²⁶And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered ^kunto his people, and shall die there. ²⁷And Moses did as the Lord commanded: and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation. ^28lAnd Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there ^min the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. ²⁹And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron ⁿthirty days, even all the house of Israel.

21And when ^aking Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came ^bby the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. ^2cAnd Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then ^dI will utterly destroy their cities. ³And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place ^||Hormah.

⁴And ^ethey journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to ^fcompass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much ^||discouraged because of the way. ⁵And the people ^gspake against God, and against Moses, ^hWherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and ⁱour soul loatheth this light bread. ⁶And the Lord sent ^kfiery serpents among the people, and ^lthey bit the people; and much people of Israel died. ^7mTherefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for ⁿwe have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; ^opray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses ^oprayed for the people. ⁸And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. ⁹And Moses made ^pa serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. ¹⁰And the children of Israel set forward, and ^qpitched in Oboth. ¹¹And they journeyed from Oboth, and ^rpitched at ^||Ije-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. ¹²From thence they removed, and pitched in ^sthe valley of Zared. ¹³From thence they removed, and pitched on the other side of Arnon, which is in the wilderness that cometh out of the coasts of the Amorites: for ^tArnon is the border of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites. ¹⁴Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord,

^||What he did in the Red sea,

And in the brooks of Arnon,

¹⁵And at the stream of the brooks that goeth down to the dwelling of ^uAr,

And ^†lieth upon the border of Moab.

¹⁶And from thence they went ^xto Beer: that is the well whereof the Lord spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water. ^17yThen Israel sang this song,

^†Spring up, O well;

^||Sing ye unto it:

¹⁸The princes digged the well,

The nobles of the people digged it,

By the direction of ^zthe lawgiver, with their staves.

And from the wilderness they went to Mattanah: ¹⁹And from Mattanah to Nahaliel: and from Nahaliel to Bamoth: ²⁰And from Bamoth in the valley, that is in the ^†country of Moab, to the top of ^||Pisgah, which looketh ^atoward ^||Jeshimon.

²¹And ^bIsrael sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying, ^22cLet me pass through thy land: we will not turn into the fields, or into the vineyards; we will not drink of the waters of the well: but we will go along by the king’s high way, until we be past thy borders. ^23dAnd Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border: but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness: and he came to ^eJahaz, and fought against Israel. ²⁴And ^fIsrael smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from Arnon unto ^gJabbok, even unto the children of Ammon: for the border of the children of Ammon was strong. ²⁵And Israel took all these cities: and Israel dwelt in all the cities of the Amorites, in Heshbon, and in all the ^†villages thereof. ²⁶For Heshbon was the city of Sihon the king of the Amorites, who had fought against the former king of Moab, and taken all his land out of his hand, even unto Arnon. ²⁷Wherefore they that speak in ^hproverbs say,

Come into Heshbon,

Let the city of Sihon be built and prepared:

²⁸For there is ⁱa fire gone out of Heshbon,

A flame from the city of Sihon:

It hath consumed Ar of Moab,

And the lords of the high places of Arnon.

²⁹ⁱWoe to thee, Moab!

Thou art undone, O people of ^jChemosh:

He hath given his sons that escaped,

And his daughters, into captivity

Unto Sihon king of the Amorites.

³⁰We have shot at them;

Heshbon is perished even unto ^kDibon,

And we have laid them waste even unto Nophah,

Which reacheth unto ^lMedeba.

³¹Thus Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorites. ³²And Moses sent to spy out ^mJaazer, and they took the ⁿvillages thereof, and drove out the Amorites that were there. ³³And they turned and went up by the way of Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan went out against them, he, and all his people, to the battle ^oat Edrei. ³⁴And the Lord said unto Moses, ^pFear him not: for I have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land; and ^qthou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. ³⁵So they smote him, and his sons, and all his people, until ^rthere was none left him alive: and they possessed his land.